Hooked on a Heart
by samhaincat
Summary: Hook sees Cora attempt to take Emma's heart.


**Hooked on a Heart**

"You can't take him he's Swan's son!" Hook yelled at Cora.

She raised an eyebrow. "What does it matter to you, Hook? Are you telling me that revenge isn't your only motive for being here?'

"This has nothing to do with the Swan girl. A child shouldn't be taken away from their mum."

"Isn't that rich considering you stole away a mother from her son." Cora responded maliciously.

When guilt crossed his face, Cora laughed. "Conveniently forgot that little tidbit did we?"

"Let him go, you don't need him." Hook demanded.

She flicked her hand in the air and Hook suddenly felt himself being backhanded hard almost knocking him off his feet.

Cora's eyes glowered. "You have no right to dictate my actions. I suggest Captain, you hold your tongue or you might find yourself without it."

His jaw clenched and his eyes looked menacing.

Cora had Henry by the arm. "Now let's take you back to Regina, your real mother. She'll be happy to see you."

Henry struggled, "She's not my real mother."

"Henry!" Emma came running with Snow and Charming not far behind.

She stopped short of Cora. "Get your hands off my son!"

"You gave him away, didn't want him but I think my daughter who has loved him all along will be very grateful when I return him to her."

Emma leapt at Cora as Hook yelled "Swan' and pulled his sword against Cora.

Cora reached in for Emma's heart as Hook screamed NOOOOOOOOOO. With her free hand Cora threw Hook against the side of his ship. He hit hard and sank to the dock unconscious.

Snow and Charming reached Cora just as, like last time, a golden glow surrounded Emma knocking Cora back. Henry ran to Emma and Cora disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

"Are you all right?" Snow asked frantically. Emma rubbed her chest and nodded. Snow threw her arms around her daughter as Charming hugged Henry.

"I'm going to station an officer by the school to keep an eye out on Henry." Charming vowed.

Emma nodded in relief then remembered Hook. She finally spotted him crumpled to the dock and ran over to him. "Hook! Hook! come on snap out of it."

"Wow that's actually Captain Hook. He tried to save me." Henry said with awe.

Emma, Snow and Charming all turned to him "What?"

Henry nodded. "He said I should be with you but then Cora hit him with magic and threatened to cut out his tongue. Then you all showed up."

Panicked over Henry, Emma remembered hearing Hook shout out to her.

She looked up at her parents. "I'm going to get Henry some breakfast and then I really need to take him to school, could you two please make sure Hook gets to the hospital and they take care of him? That crash against his ship could not have been good for his cracked ribs and the fact he's unconscious could mean a head injury."

Snow nodded. "We'll make sure he's all right, but I think your dad should go with you and Henry."

Emma shook her head. "We'll be fine. I doubt Cora will try anything again this soon."

Two hours later Snow and Charming were still at the hospital. Hook had been patched up. The diagnosis was that he had a mild concussion and that his ribs would be extremely sore. He was on an IV, and an oxygen tube by his nose to assist with his breathing.

He lay unconscious for at least an hour while Snow and Charming discussed the new danger of Cora in Storybook. Snow was the first to notice the pirate's eyes opening.

"Charming I think he's finally waking up."

Hook looked at them groggily for a few seconds, then gasped and sat up only to fall back with a groan with his hand on his ribs.

"You're hurt, try to lie still." Charming set his hand on Hook's shoulder.

To Snow and Charming's shock Hook became hysterical and shouted at them. "Just do it, kill me! It's my fault if I hadn't brought Cora here, Emma wouldn't be dead. Just do it!"

Charming looked stunned. "What?"

Snow sprang in. "He doesn't know. Emma had knocked him out the first time this happened." She sat beside him. "Hook calm down."

The pirate grit his teeth "If you won't kill me then let me go I'll kill Cora or die trying. Let me go." He tried to wrench out of Charming's grip. "Just do it and end this!" He forced himself into a sitting position his eyes were wild and devoid of reason. When Charming didn't release him he hit at him with his other arm in a wild attempt to free himself. Charming slapped him hard and grasped his chin. Hook froze for a moment.

"Charming!" Snow admonished.

"I had to get his attention. He's in shock." He glared at the pirate and spoke firmly. "Stop struggling you aren't going anywhere!'

Snow tried again. "Hook, listen to us. Emma is fine, she is alive. Would we be sitting here calmly if she were dead? She asked us to make sure you got to the hospital and were treated. Cora couldn't take her heart, she tried back in neverland by the lake, she couldn't then and she couldn't now." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Calm down."

Charming let go of Hook who sat there in disbelief. "But Cora grabbed her heart, just like the crocodile grabbed Milah's. He ripped it out and destroyed it in front of me. I thought Cora..." His voice hitched.

Snow and Charming exchanged a glance.

"I know how it must have looked but she can't take it. Emma repels her. If you hadn't lost consciousness just then you would have seen it. Now lie down before you hurt yourself even further. Charming get a nurse in here to give him a sedative, he needs to rest."

Hook desperately shook his head. "No I don't need to rest. I don't want to stay here." Charming held him down as the nurse came and slipped the sedative into his IV. "I want to see Swan," were the last words he spoke before he sedative overwhelmed him, he groaned and closed his eyes.

"That was quite the unexpected reaction." Charming remarked.

Snow sighed. "Is it just me or is it rather apparent that he has feelings for our daughter."

Charming frowned. "Unless it was just undealt with trauma from when Gold apparently took this Milah's heart – wife maybe or a lover?"

Snow shrugged. "I don't know, I thought his revenge was from Gold taking his hand."

Charming shook his head. "At the accident scene he was yelling at Gold about taking his love and Gold remarked you took her first. Emma probably knows what its about."

Snow nodded. "Something happened between them when they went up that beanstalk. But she came down without him and I thought he wouldn't forgive her for that, he was pretty nasty to her when we were locked up and he was working with Cora. But apparently he has."

"He panicked when he thought Cora had killed Emma and wanted us to kill him or let him go after Cora. Either way he'd be dead. He's a desperate man."

Snow frowned. "I hope Emma doesn't have those underlying feelings for him. If she does we might just end up with this pirate as our son in law."

They both looked down at a sleeping Hook. With his black hair mussed across his forehead, he looked much younger and more innocent.

They left with instructions to the nurse to keep an eye on him and if he gave them any trouble to have him restrained.

After Emma had brought Henry to school she stopped by the hospital to check on Hook. She couldn't get him screaming her name out of her mind.

He was asleep when she entered his room much like the last time when he was in here.

Considering he had taken another blow to his already injured ribs, he didn't look too bad. The red bruises on his face had started to fade to a soft blue. She smirked - they almost matched his eyes. His long black lashes rested on his pale face and his hair was all mussed on his forehead. Subconsciously she reached up and smoothed the strands out when suddenly his eyes opened.

_Crap_ she thought to herself quickly pulling her hand back.

"Swan", he said hoarsely. "You're all right, lass?"

She was shocked he hadn't made some innuendo about her not being able to keep her hands off him.

"Yup, just fine."

"You're not hurt." He painfully tried to sit up.

"Hey stop that, lie down and stay still. You've got to let those ribs heal." She put her hand on his chest.

His hand came up and clasped hers.

He smiled. "You've still got your heart."

She raised her eyebrows. "I didn't know you cared."

He smoothly replied. "I don't but I didn't want the trauma of seeing another heart ripped out in front of me."

Emma tilted her head. "Funny. One would think if seeing a heart ripped out causes you so much trauma, you wouldn't have ripped out Aurora's yourself."

His eyes hooded and he defiantly lifted his chin. "That was only to get me closer to my goal since you betrayed me."

She pulled her hand back. "So ripping out Aurora's heart didn't traumatize you?"

He smirked. "I made sure she got it back didn't I?"

She smirked back. "Only by accident.

He stared at her noting how good she looked.

Emma couldn't take her eyes off him when for a moment his flirty act seemed to be missing he just stared at her wide-eyed.

Her parents had told her how crazed he'd been when he awoke and thought her dead. She didn't believe it but the way he was looking at her reminded her of the look on his face on top of the beanstalks when he had extended his hand to her. Guilt still gnawed at her. Would he truly have helped her without betrayal?

Something inside of her nagged that she should put his feelings to the test.

"I should go." She got up abruptly, gasped and clutched her chest over her heart.

Hook bolted up going pale "Emma!" His hand shot out and grabbed her arm

She dropped her hand and looked at him in shock. "It's true, you were upset when Cora grabbed me."

Hook's features darkened as he pulled back. "You were pretending? You tricked me again?" His blue eyes glittered angrily.

She sat down on the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry but I didn't believe you gave a damn one way or another."

His eyes narrowed. "I don't."

She grabbed his hand. "I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have done that." She paused. "Anymore than I should have left you on the beanstalk."

He squeezed her hand and stared down at it breaking eye contact with her. When he spoke his voice was just above a whisper. "No you shouldn't have. I had let myself trust you. You had been hurt in the past that was obvious. I went against my better judgement actually I completely ignored it. I thought we had something, something I hadn't felt in a very long time. When you left me there, I hardened my heart against you. My trust isn't won easily Swan and I won't let myself be vulnerable again." He swallowed heavily and stared at her intently. He blinked and grudgingly said. "While we are making apologies, I apologise for leaving you in the cell but Cora would have killed me if I betrayed her again."

Emma felt a bit shaken by his words. "Did you mean it when you said you wouldn't have left me on the beanstalk."

He eyes were very sincere and she couldn't detect a lie. "Yes," he said softly.

She grinned. "You called me a dead useless dried up bean."

He laughed softly. "I was hurt that you had just left me chained up on the beanstalk. I didn't mean it. I apologize for the wording. I wanted to hurt you back and let you know I wouldn't let you betray me again."

She sighed. "I guess we both have trust and betrayal issues."

He nodded. "Despite that it pleases me that you weren't hurt." He said it so softly it felt like a caress.

She cleared her throat. "I should get going."

He didn't respond just stared after her with a small wistful smile.

She leaned against the wall outside his room taking a deep breath. She felt shaken to the core. Ignoring her racing heart she shook her head and thought, _'Emma, get a grip you can't starting having feelings for a vengeful pirate on a suicide mission._' A little voice inside her whispered back. "_It's already too late."_


End file.
